


This Is Right

by infinitegraces



Series: It Happened Anyway [5]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Tumblr: promptsinpanem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 04:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3677706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitegraces/pseuds/infinitegraces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s just another morning visit to the bakery for Katniss to deliver squirrels and chat with a close friend. But the foundation they’ve been building could be leading to one pivotal moment in time, and she might have finally caught up to him. (Written for Prompts in Panem, Round 7, Day 1)</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Is Right

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't actually post this one with any sort of note for PiP, mainly because I was so nervous/excited about submitting it in the first place. This is my first foray into writing THG fic, after about three months or so of literally devouring all the THG fic I could find. (No, seriously. I started digging and haven't stopped since.) And I decided that, if PiP had any more rounds, I was totally going to participate. So here I am, participating. And enjoying every moment of it because if you've read any of the other fics (or viewed the fanart) there, you know I'm in fabulous company. :)
> 
> (May 11, 2015 - Made some formatting edits, nothing major.)

_(Katniss Everdeen - Age 16)_

Cinnamon. Dill. Those were the scents she thought of as she approached her destination, squirrels secure inside her bag. She smiled as she thought of the people that awaited her, who she honestly couldn’t imagine her world without at this point. The kind owner of the only bakery in their small district, and his youngest son, who had over time become one of the few people she truly trusted. He’d deny it if she asked him, but the baker gave her bread for them that was potentially better than any they even sold to the rest of District 12.

A few years ago, when she’d started hunting and trading, she’d always knocked at the door that separated her from the warmth of the brick ovens that cultivated what were easily her favorite smells inside the fence. But that was a few years ago.

As time had passed and she had gotten to know them better, Peeta Mellark and his father had clued her in on a little secret—his mother had trouble rising early. To be fair, his older brothers struggled with it as well, but Mrs. Mellark was really more of a night owl than anything else and none of them dared try to wake her early. Katniss’days of knocking and waiting for the door to open had eventually turned into days of knocking and then entering, which had then evolved into days of just heading on in with no knock at all.

She closed the door behind her carefully, hoping her entrance would go unnoticed by the kitchen’s lone occupant. He was standing at one of the block tables opposite the door, facing away from her, his apron tied around his waist with the same double knot she had long since noticed he used on his shoe laces. She only hesitated for a moment before silently moving to stand behind him where he was kneading the dough for one of the many breads the bakery sold.

“You think you’re so sneaky,” came the smooth baritone of his voice, and even though he was still attentive to his task, she knew if she could see his face there would be a smile on it.

“I can always just sneak back out the same way I came in and take these squirrels to my mother and Prim. But then what would your dad say?” She pulled the strap of her bag over her head, setting it on one of the nearby stools. They both knew she wouldn’t really leave—Mr. Mellark had more culinary talents than just bread and pastries, and Katniss herself had tasted what he could do with one of the squirrels she was always bringing him.

She sat down on a stool beside where he was standing, resting her cheek on her hand, just watching him as he worked. As tough as things could be in the world outside, she had to admit that she really enjoyed these early mornings in the bakery’s kitchen. And even if she hadn’t quite owned up to it yet, it was more than just the food that made her happy here.

“Katniss? You’re staring at me.”

She almost falls off of the stool, his voice shocking her from where she was noticing, not for the first time, how long and almost invisible his eyelashes are.

She would have fallen off, if he hadn’t caught her first, wrapping his arms around her in what would have been a simple hug with anyone else.

With Peeta, though, there’s this _thing_. She knows he likes her. He’s done everything but hide it, even without actually making a move. Anyone else would have pushed her, but not him. He has never been anything but accepting of whatever she’s been able to give, and she appreciates him so _much_ for it.

She doesn’t know if he’s realized it, but she likes him, too. She always has, really, even if she was unable to admit it even to herself.

She looks at him, all blonde hair and blue eyes and dimples in his cheeks even when he’s only smiling that half-smile that makes all the girls at school claim to be weak in the knees.

He’s looking back at her, of course. There’s this glint in his eyes, one she’s seen before but hasn’t fully understood. Only now, she thinks she might get it. And she thinks that the same glint might be mirrored in her own eyes.

His right hand comes up to her cheek, gently grazing her skin. She can feel herself blushing, but it’s not from embarrassment.

“Katniss, I—can I, uh,” he hesitates, and it gives her the confidence to answer him, somehow knowing what he’s trying to ask her.

She doesn’t do it verbally, though. She leans up, pressing her lips to his. As her lips meet his for the first time, she knows this is right. This is what all their chats in this kitchen, in the meadow by her house, and even a few times under the cover of trees in the forest outside the fence, what all of those moments have been leading up to.

She’s not sure which of them breaks the kiss, but the broad grin he gives her afterward warms her almost as well as his arms do. She wraps her arms around him as well, resting her cheek on his shoulder, content in their silence for now. They’ll talk later, of course, but for now they can just be.


End file.
